A quadrillion tons of diamond discovered

Scientists have determined that there is 1,000 times more diamond beneath our feet than previously thought.

The remarkable diamond cache was discovered thanks to seismic scans of the Earth's interior - a process that involves using sound waves to build up a picture of what lies beneath the ground.

When researchers at MIT's Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences found an anomaly in the data, they determined that large amounts of diamond situated 150km under the planet's surface was the most likely explanation.

"This shows that diamond is not perhaps this exotic mineral, but on the scale of things, it's relatively common," said MIT research scientist Ulrich Faul.

"We can't get at them, but still, there is much more diamond there than we have ever thought before."

Even if we do find a way to delve this far down in to the Earth however, mining the diamonds may ultimately prove fruitless given that their sheer quantity will undoubtedly devalue them immensely.

It is also likely that asteroid mining - which also has the potential to yield large quantities of diamond and other precious resources - will have significantly devalued them long before that.

Diamonds have long been known to be common. Diamond jewelers and companies like DeBeers have been falsely valuing them for over a century. They also created the 'need' for diamond engagement rings via an ad campaign. Basically, if you use diamond for anything other than grinding and drilling, you are an idiot and a tool.